Thursday, December 27, 2007

Q: Who Creates More Minority Wealth Than US?

A: Nobody. From George Will's most recent column:McDonald's exemplifies the role of small businesses in Americans' upward mobility. The company is largely a confederation of small businesses: 85% of its U.S. restaurants -- average annual sales, $2.2 million -- are owned by franchisees. McDonald's has made more millionaires, and especially black and Hispanic millionaires, than any other economic entity ever, anywhere. (HT: Division of Labor)From McDonald's website: 1. McDonald's Hispanic-owned restaurants generate estimated annual revenues in excess of $1.5 billion. Note: That is more than the annual GDP of the Central American country of Belize. 2. McDonald's African-American-owned restaurants generate estimated annual revenues in excess of $2.4 billion. Note: That is about the same as the annual GDP of the African country of Rwanda.

2 Comments:

I have no idea why a press release from McD's is news to Will, or very interesting. Apparently he's concerned about regulation of fast food, but that has nothing to do with whether McD made money for franchisees.

There are many, many successful franchise businesses. All of them have made people wealthy. But the idea that franchise businesses have made a significant dent in the economic circumstances of minorities is unsupported, and may be unsupportable.

What, exactly, is Will's point? Because some minorities made money, it doesn't matter the food isn't healthy? I'm mystified.

Is it to pull the chain of those who always assume that large corporations are "inherently evil" or "profit motivated" or "exploitive", or to actually consider stretching one's perceptions beyond such prejudices?

A successful business creates a product that serves customers' needs. Through developing a successful restaurant chain, McDonald's has created new economic opportunities (ie. owning a franchise) and that has benefitted many small business owners.

McDonald's has expanded their menu to include many healthy choices. The statement that their food is "unhealthy" is no longer accurate.

I think the point was merely to consider that large corporations can create economic opportunities for the little guy. For many, such an assertion is a radical idea.